EFHSS Questions and Answers - Question Q00594

Is it safe to use an item which had undergone steam sterilization and had already expired for less than a week. Is there a safety range of days or weeks for a sterilized item if it is intact.

Asuming this is an internally sterilised item it would depend on what your "life of product" was and the rationale/validation for this ie. what does your packaging manufacturer give as the live of the packaging (assuming it is stored in corrrect conditions etc). Potential degradation of the product itself should also be considered. It can also be argued that retention of the sterile state is event-related rather than time related.

If a commercial product you should adhere to the stated expiry date as the manufacturer should have validated the stated timescale as stated above.

Regards

Ros